A spokeswoman for BOC Edwards, the semi-conductor business arm of BOC, said: ‘It is early days and we are still in consultation to decide exactly who and where the jobs will go. We haven’t decided at what level the jobs will go, but we cannot rule out cuts in the finance department.’

The cuts are part of the company’s aim to axe 1,500 jobs from its international operations – despite announcing third-quarter profits at the top end of City forecasts.

BOC – the World’s second largest gas company – said it has drawn up a restructuring plan to offset the slowdown in global manufacturing, and added the cuts would be made over the next nine months.